19 Jul
Water

The Need For A Clean Water Supply

When a storm hits, you can never be too sure of whether you will have power. If you don’t have power, you will soon lose the ability to draw water from its source as well. This will pose a problem for drinking cooking and bathing. Having an emergency water supply is one of the most important things you need to think about.

You may have some emergency food, flashlights and candles stored up in your garage or pantry, but what’s your plan for water? If you just have a few gallons of water tucked aside, you need to reevaluate your plan. A few gallons of water may only last you half a day – and possibly less depending on how many people are in your family.

Some of the major storms that have hit Canada in the past few years have left people without power and a good water source for days – sometimes even a week or longer. If you don’t have a clean, filtered water source, you’re not going to be able to stay hydrated, let alone cook any food. Remember that you don’t want to use all of your gas and oil for boiling water because you don’t know how long all of that has to last you.

There are ways to have a clean water source despite not being able to get it from your own faucet. Instead of buying hundreds of gallons of water, you can buy a special AquaPail. This is a specially designed bucket that will allow you to treat dirty water to kill bacteria and other things. Once the water goes through the bucket, it will be safe enough to drink and cook with.

You have to be practical when it comes to emergency preparedness. Consider the fact that, depending on where you live in Canada, you could be affected by a storm or other disaster that could leave you and your family without power and water for multiple days. Since you only have a limited amount of storage, you need to think of the best ways to achieve each necessity.

A clean water supply is one of the first things that people need, yet the last thing that people think about. If you put it at the top of your list, you’ll be able to make sure that you and your family are taken care of when a tropical storm, hurricane, blizzard or anything else strikes, making it impossible for you to get clean water from your own home. Focus on the number of people in your family and planning for a worst case scenario.

05 Jul
Food

Stock Up On Food That Tastes Good

Power outages frequently plague the east coast of Canada, especially recently with many of the storms. When you are in an area that has a power outage, you need to consider having an emergency stash of supplies. This includes some freeze-dried food Canada that actually tastes good.

Too many people go to the supermarket and stock up on canned soups, rice and canned meats. These foods will certainly feed you, but they aren’t going to taste good after a few days of having them over and over again. It’s likely that you will be without power for several days – so it’s better to stock up on the kinds of foods that you really wish to eat.

Freeze-dried foods allow you to enjoy some of your favorites, even if you don’t have traditional power sources to heat them. You can let your neighbors survive on spaghetti-os and spam while you enjoy some more gourmet dishes.

From risotto to brownies, you can find quite an array of freeze-dried foods to stock up your kitchen. This way, no matter how bad the weather gets in Canada, you know that you’re going to eat well. The shelf life on these foods can be just as long as traditional canned foods – and sometimes even longer. This helps you to get your money’s worth when you go shopping, too.

If you plan ahead, you can do all of your emergency shopping online. This way you can order all of your favorite foods to be shipped to you. Check out the weather channel and see if there are any thunderstorms or blizzards heading your way. Then place an order online to make sure that you are going to have enough food for you and your family for at least seven days.

Seven days’ worth of food is likely all you will need before Canadian authorities will be able to get your power turned back on – and hopefully you will get it on sooner than that. The benefit of ordering online is that you don’t have to fight the canned food aisle along with everyone else in town to get the same boring foods that you always get.

When your emergency supplies consist of food that you actually like to eat, you and your family may actually start looking forward to the times that your power goes out. With brownies and so many other good foods to choose from, you can feed yourself well. As you’re enjoying yourself with the power out, all of your neighbors will wonder why you’re always so cheery.

26 Jun
Emergency Kits

Essential Items for Your Emergency Survival Kits

You never know when an emergency is going to strike, but keeping emergency survival kits on hand is essential to making sure you encounter no problems during disasters. You need to be completely prepared ahead of time so that you don’t have to run around at the last minute, trying to figure out how you’re going to cope with a situation. An emergency survival kit is especially essential during the winter months. It’s harder to find what you need at the last minute when the entire town knows that a major snowstorm or blizzard is due to fall.

One of the most important items to include in your emergency survival kit is water. You want to store enough water in containers to have at least a one week supply. You’ll also want to have water purification tablets on hand, in case something happens to your water storage containers. Rotate your water supply every few months to keep it fresh.

Food is the next item that should be in your emergency survival kits. You want food that doesn’t take up a lot of space, does not need to be refrigerated or cooked, and is calorically dense. MREs are a common choice, as are canned goods. You also have the option of including meal bars or candy bars in your supplies. Keep as much on hand as you can store, since you don’t want to attempt to go to a grocery store during a disaster.

Beyond food and water, you want to have blankets and pillows available. This is especially important in winter, as you need to stay as warm as possible if the power goes out and you don’t have any access to heat. The tools that go in to your survival kit vary, depending on your specific needs. Flashlights are an essential part of the kit, as is a Swiss army knife or a can opener.

Other useful tools include flares, rope, matches, radio, pen and paper, lighters, camp stoves, a compass, local trail maps, and other items that work in specific circumstances. When a disaster happens, the most important thing you can do is to get your emergency kit and get to a safe place. The type of safe place depends on the disaster that you’re running into. Some situations make it much safer to stay at your home, while others may require you to evacuate.